Gluten Free Salted Caramel Apple Cake

Author: Kelly the Kitchen Kop

One box of gluten free yellow cake mix Wow, that hurts to see the word ‘box' here.
1/2 cup butter or ghee preferably pastured butter + 2 Tablespoons melted
4 eggs
2/3 cup milk read about healthy milk options here
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 organic or chemical-free apples apples are a highly sprayed crop, chopped into small pieces

2 cups organic cane sugar yes, that's a lot of sugar, but that's how you make homemade caramel, and this isn't something you will make very often!
1 cup milk
½ cup palm shortening melted
½ cup butter or ghee melted
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup butter
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups organic confectioner’s sugar

Mix the cake according to directions using the ingredients above, and also add in the salt and cinnamon, then stir in the apples. Using a rubber spatula, scoop the batter into a buttered bundt pan.
Bake at 350* for about 42-44 minutes. Just feel the top to see if it feels fairly firm and then it's done. Let it cool as directed on the box.

Stir sugar, milk, palm shortening, butter and baking soda in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, continuing to stir as it cooks. Cook until it's at about 235*, but I got sick of checking it with my thermometer, so I just watched until it started turning a brown color and thickened up, being careful not to let it burn. Until you've made it a few times, just go with the thermometer. Remove from heat and let cool a few minutes. Pour into the Bosch or another mixer, and using the whip attachments, whip it until it has cooled even more.
Then add the other butter, salt, and sugar, but add the confectioner sugar slowly, and mix on high for a few seconds every so often to incorporate air in. You may not need all of the sugar, or you may need a bit more to get it to the right consistency.
My first batch frosted perfectly. With my next batch I got too impatient and the frosting was a little more thin, so I just drizzled it over each piece. I served this with vanilla ice cream, be sure to make homemade vanilla ice cream if you have a few extra minutes because it's so much better. Note: This amount of frosting was enough for 1 1/2 cakes, so feel free to use the extra to dip your apples into for more dreamy-liciousness. This frosting was adapted from a recipe I found online here.